It's no secret that Crested Butte is well known for its mountain biking. I spent the entire month of May plotting my rides up there, religiously checking on trail updates and openings. For most of May, it didn't seem worth the 30 minute drive- only a small amount of trails were open and to be honest? Compared to what was actually open in CB, Hartman Rocks in Gunnison is just as good or even better.
Then. Then, it seemed like everything opened at once and all of my plotting and planning came to fruition because OMG OMG OMG. The best word to describe the trails in CB?
Magical.
I don't have tons of mountain biking experience so I don't have a lot to compare it to, but I am going to guess that not all mountain bike networks are this awesome. For wildflower views alone, Crested Butte WINS. By a massive landslide.
Sarita and I did the Snodgrass, Lupine and Upper loops as one big ride, starting and ending in town. She complained there was too much climbing. I thought the amount of climbing was just about right. The views? Neither of us complained about those.
Heading up on Snodgrass Mountain. Sarita is seriously one of the best technical female riders I have seen.
We cornered another rider in to taking this shot of us right before the Snodgrass downhill.
Riding through the aspens. Given the technical nature of desert riding at Hartman, this was a new (and tight) experience for me. It was rad.
On Lupine. The most appropriately named trail ever.
The views. At times, it was hard to ride because DUDE. THE VIEWS.
For my first ride in Crested Butte, this went above and beyond my expectations. Way beyond. It also gave me a ton of confidence. The trails at Hartman are so technical and my practice out there is paying off in spades. The trails in CB felt so easy. At one point, I was even riding downhill right on Sarita's wheel which NEVER happens. Seriously. The girl has mad skills.
So yeah for Hartman. Yeah for Crested Butte. Five million times YEAH for living in Vacationland.
